John Connell (RIP) and other Office Bearers

With the passing of John Connell, it seems prudent to load the office bearers that have graced the club since its' inception in 1954.

For those that have been around the club a long time (Donny Power for example), there are many names/memories since that time.

It is worth noting that John was the longest serving President of the club, holding office between 2002 and 2017, and in that same period Jan Connell was Treasurer. In the time since Ron Nielsen, Nev Thompson and David McDonald held the Pres, Sec and Treas positions, the club has been fortunate to have a no of people serve multiple terms, although none as long as John and Jan:

Errol Bognuda held one of the key positions for 8 years,

Graham Burrows also 8 (and went on to serve many years with the Ipswich Kart Club)

Agnes Byrne contributed 10 years,

Tom Gillespie and Allan Ransome gave 5,

Robyn Slattery 9,

and current Treasurer Peter has done a couple of stints over the years.

Note that the above does not take into account other position/work carried out for the club and just an example of some peoples efforts for the club.

I started in the club in 2002 (maybe late 2001) and John and Jan welcomed myself and the family into the club with open arms (as did all the club), and some of my memories include Jan, Betty Wedding and (my wife) Sue sitting in the tower with stop watches for the timing:). Competing at many eveents around SE QLD, John was always promoting the club, was keen to mix with other IWMAC members at the meetings and would always offer advice if asked (and sometimes if not), and has always been keen on assisting the younger members. He and Jan also started motorsort in the days when you could rally a Monaro, when people like Peter Brock and Colin Bond were youngsters. He had some very intersting stories to tell.

Below is the current version of a presentation from the 50th Anniversary showing the key positions over the years. Of course it does leave some long term workers off, like Donny and Kevin Parkes (VP for I don't remember how long), so please take these comments as just the tip of the iceberg in the clubs history.